Donnie Yen Rocks!
Care to remember the kung-fu master in a breakdance moment?
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Donnie come lately
Actor Donnie Yen goes from Ip Man to leading man in, oh, 26 years
IHT
Source - Straits Times 03 September 2009
SHANGHAI - FOR the past 26 years, Donnie Yen has developed a dedicated following in Asia for his impressive martial arts skills and a cult status internationally for his roles in popular action movies, including Once Upon A Time In China II and Hero. But until recently, he had, he said, 'never tasted what it meant to be a superstar'.
Instead, in big-budget movies, he often played in the shadow of established stars such as Jet Li and Jackie Chan.
But with Painted Skin and Ip Man, two box-office successes last year, Yen's star is finally rising.
'He's been around as long as the two Js,' said Mr Daniel Yun, outgoing managing director of MediaCorp Raintree Pictures, referring to Li and Chan. 'For a long time, he was the third choice; but with his films making big money at the box office, he's become the leading man to watch.'
Painted Skin, which was co-produced by Raintree, grossed 230 million yuan (S$48.57 million) in China last year, making it the second most successful film of the year there behind Red Cliff.
Yen, 46, seems to approach his newfound success with healthy scepticism.
In a recent interview in Shanghai, where he was filming his final scene for Bodyguards & Assassins, a big-budget period action film produced by Peter Chan, he commented that he had 'a lot of new friends' now - whereas in the late 1990s, he could not find anybody to help finance Ballistic Kiss, his second film as a director and producer.
'Now all the producers are calling me and I have films lined up all the way to 2012,' he said. 'It's beginning to sink in that after 26 years in the industry, I'm finally getting my break.'
Yen, who also recently finished work on 14 Blades, a Ming-era martial arts movie, acknowledges that he has tended to avoid expanding his acting abilities. He believes that directors never really encouraged him to act.
'It was more 'come in, fight, look cool, show your muscles',' he said, laughing. -- INTERNATIONAL HERALD TRIBUNE
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Monday, August 31, 2009
Churchill National Park
Consisting of 4 solid hills, a former reservoir, it was no walk in the park as it got dark. Doubling up as a mountain bike trail, most of the trek involved massive slope climbing action. Glad to have come out in one piece! Good training for sure.
Wednesday, August 26, 2009
History
And...spotted by the roadside on the way to work today - a board that read, "The true value of the past is to enrich the present."
Tuesday, August 25, 2009
Mad weather in Melbourne
It was mad driving home from work today. Massive hail, pockets of snow near the mountains where I was. Had to pull over a coupla' times to ensure a safe journey home. 120kmh winds! Intense does not begin to describe the madness.
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Storms affect peak-hour commute
Mex Cooper, Thomas Hunter
August 25, 2009 - 6:03PM
Source - the Age
Wild weather has caused a number of delays for Melbourne commuters as howling winds and heavy rain sweep across the city.
A fallen tree outside Essendon station has caused delays up to half an hour to both citybound and outbound trains on the Broadmeadows line.
A problem with signalling systems also caused delays in South Kensington earlier this evening, but a Connex spokeswoman said the problem had now been rectified.
Connex had buses and maintenance teams on standby for the extreme weather but services were running "relatively smoothly," the spokeswoman said.
Winds up to 128km/h hit Avalon earlier this afternoon and were due to arrive in the city about 5.20pm.
Bureau of Meterology duty forecaster Geoff Feren said the cold front would see the temperature drop rapidly and damaging winds of about 110km/h sweep through Melbourne.
She said the strongest winds - 117 km/h - had so far been reported at Mount William in the Grampians National Park in the state’s west.
Commuters were advised to leave work early as extreme weather threatened to play havoc with the public transport system.
There was also a warning for potential blackouts.
A Yarra Trams spokeswoman said emergency crews were also ready in case overhead tram lines were damaged this afternoon.
Falling trees pulled down both overhead tram and train lines on Friday, causing delays and cancellations when high-speed winds lashed Melbourne.
Connex and Yarra Trams advised commuters to monitor their websites for updates but said it was up to passengers to decide whether they should leave early.
SES spokesman Scott Hilditch said motorists should also take care as debris could be blown on to roads and traffic lights may malfunction from power outages.
He said up to 700,000 people commuted to the city each day and leaving early would help to minimise possible transport snarls.
Emergency services crews were this afternoon gearing up for damaging winds, possible thunderstorms and power blackouts across the state.
Gale-force winds are expected mid-week, in what is shaping up to be an exceptionally gusty season.
The destructive winds would gust to 120km/h in alpine and other elevated areas, while parts of Melbourne and other southern areas would get wind gusts of 100km/h, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Peter Blake said.
The bureau said this morning 100 km/h winds would strengthen in the state's west from early afternoon before hitting Melbourne.
"That front is approaching, it may bring a band of rain and will come late afternoon, 4 to 6pm," he said.
"There will be several hours of winds, it will pick up and strengthen during the day and into the evening.
"At least a lot of people will be safely in their houses by then."
A severe weather warning is in place for much of Victoria predicting sustained winds up to 60km/h and locally damaging gusts up to 110km/h in the Wimmera, western and alpine forecast districts and in parts of the north central, northern country, Mallee, central, northeast and Gippsland regions.
But SES spokesman Allan Briggs said people could help lessen the disruption of powerful winds.
"People need to be prepared for a power outage," he said.
"It's good to have a battery operated radio and torch, and if the power goes out they shouldn't try to do any power repairs themselves. Phone the power company, whose number should be on the bill.
"We'd also advise against using candles, unless in an absolute emergency.
"We're also urging people to avoid parking or sheltering under trees, and suggesting they secure loose items, like outdoor furniture, around their house."
Mr Briggs said SES workers had attended about 150 jobs across Victoria in the last 24 hours, helping the public cope with fallen trees and damaged power lines.
Although the strong winds will originate in the state's west, Mr Briggs said metropolitan Melbourne and the state's elevated areas could be the worst-affected areas.
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Storms affect peak-hour commute
Mex Cooper, Thomas Hunter
August 25, 2009 - 6:03PM
Source - the Age
Wild weather has caused a number of delays for Melbourne commuters as howling winds and heavy rain sweep across the city.
A fallen tree outside Essendon station has caused delays up to half an hour to both citybound and outbound trains on the Broadmeadows line.
A problem with signalling systems also caused delays in South Kensington earlier this evening, but a Connex spokeswoman said the problem had now been rectified.
Connex had buses and maintenance teams on standby for the extreme weather but services were running "relatively smoothly," the spokeswoman said.
Winds up to 128km/h hit Avalon earlier this afternoon and were due to arrive in the city about 5.20pm.
Bureau of Meterology duty forecaster Geoff Feren said the cold front would see the temperature drop rapidly and damaging winds of about 110km/h sweep through Melbourne.
She said the strongest winds - 117 km/h - had so far been reported at Mount William in the Grampians National Park in the state’s west.
Commuters were advised to leave work early as extreme weather threatened to play havoc with the public transport system.
There was also a warning for potential blackouts.
A Yarra Trams spokeswoman said emergency crews were also ready in case overhead tram lines were damaged this afternoon.
Falling trees pulled down both overhead tram and train lines on Friday, causing delays and cancellations when high-speed winds lashed Melbourne.
Connex and Yarra Trams advised commuters to monitor their websites for updates but said it was up to passengers to decide whether they should leave early.
SES spokesman Scott Hilditch said motorists should also take care as debris could be blown on to roads and traffic lights may malfunction from power outages.
He said up to 700,000 people commuted to the city each day and leaving early would help to minimise possible transport snarls.
Emergency services crews were this afternoon gearing up for damaging winds, possible thunderstorms and power blackouts across the state.
Gale-force winds are expected mid-week, in what is shaping up to be an exceptionally gusty season.
The destructive winds would gust to 120km/h in alpine and other elevated areas, while parts of Melbourne and other southern areas would get wind gusts of 100km/h, Bureau of Meteorology forecaster Peter Blake said.
The bureau said this morning 100 km/h winds would strengthen in the state's west from early afternoon before hitting Melbourne.
"That front is approaching, it may bring a band of rain and will come late afternoon, 4 to 6pm," he said.
"There will be several hours of winds, it will pick up and strengthen during the day and into the evening.
"At least a lot of people will be safely in their houses by then."
A severe weather warning is in place for much of Victoria predicting sustained winds up to 60km/h and locally damaging gusts up to 110km/h in the Wimmera, western and alpine forecast districts and in parts of the north central, northern country, Mallee, central, northeast and Gippsland regions.
But SES spokesman Allan Briggs said people could help lessen the disruption of powerful winds.
"People need to be prepared for a power outage," he said.
"It's good to have a battery operated radio and torch, and if the power goes out they shouldn't try to do any power repairs themselves. Phone the power company, whose number should be on the bill.
"We'd also advise against using candles, unless in an absolute emergency.
"We're also urging people to avoid parking or sheltering under trees, and suggesting they secure loose items, like outdoor furniture, around their house."
Mr Briggs said SES workers had attended about 150 jobs across Victoria in the last 24 hours, helping the public cope with fallen trees and damaged power lines.
Although the strong winds will originate in the state's west, Mr Briggs said metropolitan Melbourne and the state's elevated areas could be the worst-affected areas.
Monday, August 24, 2009
Monty Python set to reunite
Right, the photo on the left has nothing to do with Monty Python except that it's what I made for dinner today - lamb chops and pineapple/apple milk shake. But that is purely for something completely random. Back to regular programming -
"The surviving members of legendary comedy troupe Monty Python will reunite in October to commemorate their 40th anniversary as a team.
John Cleese, Michael Palin, Eric Idle, Terry Jones and Terry Gilliam are expected to appear together at a red-letter event in New York City on October 15.
There, the Pythons will be honoured by the British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) with a special award that commemorates their "outstanding contribution to film and television".
"It promises to be a rare and memorable occasion bringing the hugely talented Monty Python team together again, and we feel that the special award is a fitting tribute to this much-loved and singularly British institution," said BAFTA chairman David Parfitt.
According to The Hollywood Reporter , BAFTA previously recognised the work of Monty Python in 1987, when they were presented with a Michael Balcon Award for outstanding British contribution to cinema.
Monty Python's Flying Circus , the TV series which ran from 1969 to 1974, was the home of iconic comedy sketches such as Ministry of Silly Walks, Dead Parrot and The Lumberjack Song. The team also wrote and starred in classic films such as The Life of Brian and The Holy Grail ."
Source - http://au.tv.yahoo.com/news/article/-/article/5846439/monty-python-set-to-reunite/
Date of Access 23 August 2009
And here's the Ministry of Silly Walks.
And a personal fave. The Silly Olympics.
Monday, August 17, 2009
Worth Sharing
Worth sharing.
"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."
St. Augustine.
"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page."
St. Augustine.
Being Happy.
Caught whilst trudging through Orchard Road. Was glad that amongst the homogeneity of Singapore's rapidly shifting loss of identity via all those bloody new metal buildings that primarily conduct heat, making the island hotter and hotter; wait I digress... that we still have people staying happy, doing what they love, and having a great time. Check out Singapore's legendary happy uncle.
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